The Game of Life
A board game simulating life's journey from youth to retirement.
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The Game of Life, often shortened to just Life, is a board game that was first created in 1860 by Milton Bradley under the name The Checkered Game of Life. It was the first game produced by Bradley’s company, the Milton Bradley Company. The game follows a person’s journey from early adulthood to retirement, with optional stops for college, jobs, marriage, and children. Depending on the version, two to six players can take part, and some variations allow up to ten.
The modern version of the game was released in 1960, exactly one hundred years after the original. It was created and co-designed by Bill Markham and Reuben Klamer, respectively, and was "heartily endorsed" by Art Linkletter. Today, the game is part of the permanent collection at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History and has been inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame.
The original 1860 game was designed by Milton Bradley, a successful lithographer, and sold 45,000 copies in its first year. Like many 19th-century board games—such as The Mansion of Happiness (1843) by S. B. Ives—it carried a strong moral message. The board looked like a modified checkerboard.
Players aimed to land on “good” spaces and collect 100 points, but if only one player remained alive, that player automatically won. Some spaces moved the player up or down to a different spot, similar to Snakes and Ladders. Reaching “Happy Old Age” in the upper-right corner (opposite “Infancy,” where players started) earned 50 points. Landing on “Suicide,” located six spaces right and two up from “Infancy,” removed the player from the game.
Modern game
Instead of dice, which were linked to gambling, players spun a six-sided top called a teetotum. The 1960 version was a collaboration between Reuben Klamer and Stephen Withers. The board features a track that winds over and through small mountains, buildings, and other three-dimensional features. Players move along the track in a small plastic car, using a wheel on the board numbered one through ten.
Each car has six holes for pegs, which are added when a player gets married or has children. The pegs are pink for female and blue for male. Every player starts with one peg.
Background
Like many 19th-century games, such as The Mansion of Happiness by S. B. The game board resembled a modified checkerboard. As in snakes and ladders, some spaces caused the player to move up or down to a different space. A player could gain 50 points by reaching 'Happy Old Age' in the upper-right corner, opposite 'Infancy' where one began, and if they landed on the 'Suicide' space, 6 right and 2 up from 'Infancy', they would be out of the game.
Instead of dice – which were associated with gambling – players used a six-sided top called a teetotum. A collaboration between Reuben Klamer and Stephen Withers, it consists of a track which passes along, over, and through small mountains, buildings, and other features. A player travels along the track in a small plastic automobile, according to the spins of a small wheel on the board with spaces numbered one through ten.
Each car has six holes into which pegs are added as the player 'gets married' and 'acquires children'. The modern game pegs are pink and blue to distinguish the sexes (blue for male, pink for female). Each player starts the game with one peg. Other tangibles vary between versions of the game.
The rules in all different modern versions of the game are generally the same, even though they may have different cards and spaces. The winner is the player who retires with the most money. Smith ruled in favor of Hasbro, explaining that while developing a game is a collaborative effort, copyright law assigns the copyright only to one entity.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: The Game of Life (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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